System for multi-user collaboration within a virtual reality environment

ABSTRACT

Real-world users of an event simulation system can playback a digital representation of an event that is mapped onto a virtual model of a real-world venue to simulate the event being presented at a real-world venue. As the real-world users are viewing this virtual event, these users can virtually interact with the virtual event, for example, move around the virtual event to view the virtual event at various locations and/or modify parameters, characteristics, and/or attributes of the virtual event. Thereafter, the event simulation system can propagate these modifications across multiple real-world users of the event simulation system to allow these real-world users to collaboratively interact with the virtual event.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.63/347,828, filed Jun. 1, 2022, which is incorporated by reference inits entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

The United States Media and Entertainment Industry is the largest in theworld. The United States Media and Entertainment Industry represents athird of the global media and entertainment industry which deliversevents, such as musical events, theatrical events, sporting events,and/or motion picture events, to an audience for their viewing pleasure.Different real-world venues have different configurations andarrangements from one another, such as media surfaces, seatinglocations, and/or standing locations to provide some examples, forpresenting an event to an audience for their viewing pleasure. Eventplanners often design and plan the presentation of the event to optimizethe event experience for the specific configurations and arrangements atthese specific venues. In some situations, the event might need to beoptimized to accommodate the specific configurations and arrangements ofthe specific venue before the event is to be presented and/or thespecific venue might need to be modified to accommodate the event beforethe event is to be presented. In these situations, the event and/orcontent of the event may be needed to be modified differently fordifferent venues. But in current systems, customizing and planning thecontent for the specific configurations and arrangements requiresplanners to physically travel to the specific venue, sometimesworld-wide.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a partof the specification, illustrate the present disclosure and, togetherwith the description, further explain the principals thereof and toenable a person skilled in the pertinent art to make and use the same.Aspects of the present disclosure are best understood from the followingdetailed description when read with the accompanying figures. It isnoted that, in accordance with the standard practice in the industry,features are not drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of the featuresmay be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion. Inthe drawings:

FIG. 1 graphically illustrates a pictorial representation of anexemplary event simulation system in accordance with some exemplaryembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary event simulationaccording to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Thedisclosure is not limited to this operational description;

FIG. 3 graphically illustrates an exemplary virtual event that can beimplemented within the exemplary event simulation system in accordancewith some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B graphically illustrate exemplary virtual event viewsthat can be generated by the exemplary event simulation system inaccordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B graphically illustrate exemplary interactions withthe exemplary virtual event views that can be generated by users of theexemplary event simulation system in accordance with some exemplaryembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 graphically illustrates exemplary collaboration among users ofthe exemplary virtual event views in accordance with some exemplaryembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 graphically illustrates an exemplary event simulation server thatcan be implemented within the exemplary event simulation system inaccordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8A graphically illustrates an exemplary user device that can beimplemented within the exemplary event simulation system in accordancewith some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8B graphically illustrates exemplary implementations of theexemplary user device of FIG. 8A in accordance with some exemplaryembodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 9 graphically illustrates a simplified block diagram of a computersystem suitable for use with embodiments described herein according tosome exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the accompanying drawings, like reference numbers indicate identicalor functionally similar elements. Additionally, the left most digit(s)of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the referencenumber first appears.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following disclosure provides many different embodiments, orexamples, for implementing different features of the provided subjectmatter. Specific examples of components and arrangements are describedbelow to simplify the present disclosure. These are, of course, merelyexamples and are not intended to be limiting. For example, the formationof a first feature over a second feature in the description that followsmay include embodiments in which the first and second features areformed in direct contact, and may also include embodiments in whichadditional features may be formed between the first and second features,such that the first and second features may not be in direct contact. Inaddition, the present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and/orletters in the examples. This repetition does not in itself dictate arelationship between the embodiments and/or configurations discussed.

Overview

Real-world users of an event simulation system can playback a digitalrepresentation of an event that is mapped onto a virtual model of areal-world venue to simulate the event being presented at a real-worldvenue. As the real-world users are viewing this virtual event, theseusers can virtually interact with the virtual event, for example, movearound the virtual event to view the virtual event at various locationsand/or modify parameters, characteristics, and/or attributes of thevirtual event. Thereafter, the event simulation system can propagatethese modifications across multiple real-world users of the eventsimulation system to allow these real-world users to collaborativelyinteract with the virtual event.

Exemplary Event Simulation System

FIG. 1 graphically illustrates a pictorial representation of anexemplary event simulation system in accordance with some exemplaryembodiments of the present disclosure. Different real-world venues havedifferent configurations and arrangements from one another, such asmedia surfaces, seating locations, and/or standing locations to providesome examples, for presenting an event to an audience for their viewingpleasure. As such, viewers at these venues may have differentperceptions of the event that can be dependent upon a wide variety offactors. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 , an eventsimulation system 100 can map a digital representation of an event, suchas musical event, a theatrical event, a sporting event, and/or a motionpicture event to provide some examples, onto a virtual model of areal-world venue to generate a virtual event. As to be further describedin detail below, one or more real-world users of the event simulationsystem 100 can playback the virtual event to simulate the event beingpresented at the real-world venue. As the one or more real-world usersare viewing the virtual event, these users can virtually interact withthe virtual event, for example, move around the virtual event to viewthe virtual event at various locations and/or modify one or moreparameters, characteristics, and/or attributes of the virtual event. Insome embodiments, the event simulation system 100 can propagate theseinteractions and modifications across multiple real-world users of theevent simulation system 100 to allow these real-world users tocollaboratively interact with the virtual event. As illustrated in FIG.1 , the event simulation system 100 can include an event simulationserver 102, an event storage 104, user devices 106.1 through 106.n,and/or one or more remote event sources 108 that are communicativelycoupled to one another using a communication network 110.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 , the event simulation server 102 can includeone or more computing devices, such as one or more desktop computers,one or more rackmount computers, one or more computer hardware servers,and/or any other computing device having one or more processors thatwill be recognized by those skilled in the relevant art(s) withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure to providesome examples. In some embodiments, one or more of these computingdevices, desktop computers, rackmount computers, computer hardwareservers, etc. can be situated nearby the user devices 106.1 through106.n, for example, within the same building structure as the userdevices 106.1 through 106.n and one or more of these computing devices,desktop computers, rackmount computers, computer hardware servers, etc.can be situated far from the user devices 106.1 through 106.n, forexample, within another building structure that is remotely situatedfrom the user devices 106.1 through 106.n. In some embodiments, one ormore of user devices 106.1 through 106.n. may be implemented as eventsimulation server 102, similar to a peer-to-peer network.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 , the event simulationserver 102 can retrieve and/or generate a virtual model of a real-worldvenue. The virtual model represents a computer-generated digital modelof the real-world venue in three-dimensional space. In some embodiments,the real-world venue can represent a music venue, for example, a musictheater, a music club, and/or a concert hall, a sporting venue, forexample, an arena, a convention center, and/or a stadium, an exhibitspace, for example, a museum, and/or a library, and/or any othersuitable venue that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevantart(s) without departing the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.In these embodiments, the virtual model can represent acomputer-generated digital model of the music theater, the sportingvenue, and/or the other suitable venue in the three-dimensional space,including the particular configuration and arrangement of walls andother surfaces that define the venue. In some embodiments, the virtualmodel can include one or more computer-generated digital models ofvarious architectural features of the real-world venue in thethree-dimensional space, such as the performance area, the mediasurfaces, the seating locations, and/or the standing locations toprovide some examples. In some embodiments, the virtual model caninclude one or more computer-generated digital models of various objectsat the real-world venue in the three-dimensional space, such as stageobjects that are associated with the real-world venue and/or stageobjects that are associated with the event to provide some examples. Insome embodiments, the virtual model can be generated as described inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/678,804, filed on Nov. 8, 2019, nowU.S. Pat. No. 11,023,729, which is incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

In some embodiments, event simulation server 102 synchronizes a virtualevent between multiple user devices 106.1 to 106.n. which facilitatescollaboration on the design and planning of the virtual event. Afterretrieving the virtual model, the event simulation server 102 can mapthe digital representation of the event onto the virtual model togenerate a virtual event as illustrated in FIG. 1 and may provide thevirtual event to user devices 106.1 to 106.n. In some embodiments, theevent simulation server 102 can retrieve the digital representation ofthe event from the event storage 104 and/or the remote event sources 108via the communication network 110. User devices 106.1 to 106.n maylocally maintain and implement their own version of the virtual event,respectively virtual events 112.1 to 112.n.

In some embodiments, event simulation server 102 may only function tosynchronize the virtual events 112.1 to 112.n based on interactions andmodifications by user devices 106.1 to 106.n. In these embodiments, eachof user devices 106.1 to 106.n may retrieve the virtual model or thevirtual event directly from event storage 104 or remote event sources108. After retrieval of either the virtual model or the virtual event,user devices 106.1 to 106.n may then transmit respective interactionsand modifications to event simulation server 102 which transmits theinteractions and modifications to the other user devices. In thismanner, event simulation server 102 facilitates collaboration betweenthe user devices 106.1 to 106.n by ensuring that each user device hasthe same view of the virtual event.

After receiving the virtual event (either from event simulation server102 or directly from event storage 104 or remote event sources 108),each user device may store and interact with a local copy of the virtualevent, such as virtual event 112.1 for user device 106.1, virtual event112.2 for user device 106.2, and virtual event 112.n for user device106.n. Modifications to the virtual event (e.g., such as moving digitalobjects, changing acoustic or visual parameters of the virtual event)and other interactions by each user device are transmitted to eventsimulation server 102 which forwards the modifications to the other userdevices to update their respective virtual events. For example if userdevice 106.1 adjusts a property of virtual event 112.1 such as, windflow pattern (e.g., for a concert), scent model (e.g., the modeling of ascent through the venue), changes to acoustic beam-forming, just to namea few examples, user device 106.1 transmits the adjustment to userdevices 106.2 and 106.n via event simulation server 102. User devices106.2 and 106.n may then make a corresponding adjustment to theirrespective virtual events 112.2 and 112.n so that the adjustment may bevisually represented at user devices 106.2 and 106.n.

The digital representation of the event can represent one or morecomputer-generated digital representations of a musical event, atheatrical event, and/or a sporting event to provide some examples,and/or the event itself, such as a motion picture event to provide anexample. In some embodiments, a real-time, or near real-time, event alsoreferred to as a live event, such as the musical event, the theatricalevent, and/or the sporting event to provide some examples, can bedigitally captured, for example, by one or more digital cameras, toprovide the digital representation of the event of this real-time, ornear real-time, event for mapping onto the virtual model. As illustratedin FIG. 1 , the virtual events 112.1 to 112.n represent a virtualpresentation of the digital representation of the event at the virtualmodel to virtually simulate the event being presented at the real-worldvenue. For example, the event can include a musical event, a theatricalevent, a sporting event, and/or a motion picture event to provide someexamples. In this example, the event simulation server 102 can map oneor more computer-generated digital representations of the musical event,one or more computer-generated digital representations of the theatricalevent, one or more computer-generated digital representations of thesporting event, and/or the motion picture onto the virtual model togenerate the virtual event, which may then be provided to user devices106.1 to 106.n for local storage and/or processing. As such, the virtualevents 112.1 to 112.n represent a virtual presentation of the musicalevent, the theatrical event, the sporting event, and/or the motionpicture at the virtual model to virtually simulate the musical event,the theatrical event, the sporting event, and/or the motion picturebeing presented at the real-world venue.

In some embodiments, the event can include one or more performers and/orone or more theatrical properties, also referred to as props, that areassociated with the event. In these embodiments, the event simulationserver 102 can map one or more computer-generated models of the one ormore performers and/or one or more computer-generated models of the oneor more props that are associated with the event onto the virtual modelto generate the virtual event.

In some embodiments, virtual events 112.1 to 112.n may also includevisual representations of real-world effects related to the actualevent. Various virtual effects may be related to the senses of the humanbody, such as sight, smell, touch, taste, and/or hearing to provide someexamples, into the virtual event. These various virtual effects caninclude audio, visual, and/or sensory effects that are visuallyrepresented in the virtual events and provide a visual aid to real-worldeffects that are not necessarily visible. For example, real-worldeffects of an event may include wind flow patterns (e.g., from a windmachine), sound localization (e.g., from acoustic beamformingtechniques), and scent trails. A virtual event may represent thesereal-world properties through visual virtual effects, such as arrows,lines, or any other visual effect that can be displayed in the virtualevent.

In some embodiments, these various visual virtual effects can relate tolighting options available in the real-world venue, colors present inthe real-world venue, different materials in the real-world venue, seatsin the real-world venue, screens, exterior surroundings of thereal-world venue, such as trees, buildings, roads, sky, lighting, and/orsun effects, and/or other real-world viewers in the real-world venue toprovide some examples. In some embodiments, the audio effects caninclude realistic, confirmatory effects; realistic, evocative effects;symbolic, evocative effects; conventionalized effects; impressionisticeffects; and/or music as effects to provide some examples. In someembodiments, the visual effects can include special effects, motioncapture, matte painting, animation, three-dimensional modeling, rigging,rotoscoping match moving, and/or compositing to provide some examples.In some embodiments, the sensory effects can include various effectsthat are related to the senses that can be experienced by the humanbody, such as temperature, touch, and/or smell to provide some examples.In some embodiments, the the virtual event may include these virtualeffects and/or computer-generated digital models of various electrical,mechanical, and/or electro-mechanical devices to simulate these virtualeffects. For example, the virtual event may include computer-generateddigital models of lighting systems; fog machines; smoke machines; windmachines; robots or animatronics; platforms, such as moveable platformsfor performers to provide an example, and/or four-dimensional effectspods into the virtual event.

After generating the virtual event, the event simulation server 102 canprovide the virtual event to the user devices 106.1 through 106.n. Asillustrated in FIG. 1 , one or more of the user devices 106.1 through106.n can include one or more computing devices, such as one or moredesktop computers, one or more mobile phones, one or more mobilecomputing devices; one or more mobile internet devices, such as tabletcomputers and/or laptop computers, one or more mobile video gameconsoles, one or more mobile wearable electronic devices, such assmartwatches, and/or any other computing device having one or moreprocessors that will be recognized by those skilled in the relevantart(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure to provide some examples. In some embodiments, these one ormore computing devices can be communicatively coupled to one or morevirtual reality (VR) headsets and/or one or more VR controllers.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 , the user devices106.1 through 106.n can playback the respective virtual events 112.1 to112.n to virtually simulate the event being presented at the real-worldvenue. In some embodiments, the user devices 106.1 through 106.n canadditionally stop, pause, fast-forward, and/or rewind the respectivevirtual events 112.1 to 112.n. In some embodiments, the event simulationserver 102 can synchronize the virtual events 112.1 to 112.n in timethroughout the user devices 106.1 through 106.n. In these embodiments,the user devices 106.1 through 106.n can synchronize the playback of thevirtual event to a master clocking signal of the event simulation server102. Synchronization of events also includes updating each virtual eventbased on the interactions and modifications that occur the other virtualevents. For example, an interaction or modification in virtual event112.1 is propagated to virtual events 112.2 to 112.n which results inthe same interaction or modification being applied to virtual events112.2 to 112.n.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 , real-world users ofthe user devices 106.1 through 106.n can interact with the respectivevirtual events 112.1 to 112.n as these real-world users are viewing thevirtual event views 114.1 through 114.n. In some embodiments, theseinteractions can include virtually moving virtual users corresponding tothe real-world users around the three-dimensional space of therespective virtual events 112.1 to 112.n to view the digitalrepresentation of the event at various locations in thethree-dimensional space of the respective virtual events 112.1 to 112.n.In these embodiments, multiple real-world users can view the virtualevent from their user devices from the same location or at differentlocations in the three-dimensional space. In some embodiments, thesevarious locations can include locations in the three-dimensional spaceof the virtual event that are not normally available to view the eventat the real-world venue, such as a broadcast film camera location toprovide an example. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 ,the user devices 106.1 through 106.n can process the respective virtualevents 112.1 to 112.n as the virtual event is being played back toprovide virtual event views 114.1 through 114.n that correspond to thevarious locations of the virtual users that are to be displayed to thereal-world users by the user devices 106.1 through 106.n. Thisprocessing can include tracking three-dimensional positions of thevirtual users in the three-dimensional space of the virtual event,estimating lines of sight of the virtual users at the three-dimensionalpositions, estimating fields of view of the virtual users that areassociated with the lines of sight, and/or matching the virtual eventviews 114.1 through virtual 114.n to the fields of view of the virtualusers at the three-dimensional positions.

In some embodiments, these interactions can include virtually modifyingthe virtual event as these users are viewing the virtual event views114.1 through 114.n. In some embodiments, the user devices 106.1 through106.n can provide various virtual graphical elements to the real-worldusers to allow these users to modify the virtual event. In theseembodiments, these virtual graphical elements can outline variousinteractions, for example, modifications, that are available to thereal-world users. In these embodiments, these virtual graphical elementscan include one or more radio buttons, one or more check boxes, one ormore text boxes, one or more toggle switches, one or more pop-up menus,one or more lists, and/or any other suitable mechanism that allows thereal-world users to interact to provide some examples. For example,these modifications can include removing the one or more parameters,characteristics, and/or attributes of the virtual event from thethree-dimensional space of the virtual event. As another example, thesemodifications can include moving a location, for example, a positionand/or an orientation, of the one or more parameters, characteristics,and/or attributes of the virtual event 112 within the three-dimensionalspace of the virtual event. As a further example, these modificationscan include inserting one or more new parameters, new characteristics,and/or new attributes into the three-dimensional space of the virtualevent. In some embodiments, the parameters, characteristics, and/orattributes of the virtual event can include, or relate to, the one ormore computer-generated digital models of the various architecturalfeatures of the real-world venue, the one or more computer-generateddigital models of the various objects, the one or morecomputer-generated models of the one or more performers, the one or morecomputer-generated models of the one or more props that are associatedwith the event, and/or other suitable parameters, characteristics,and/or attributes of the virtual event that will be apparent to thoseskilled in the relevant art(s) without departing the spirit and scope ofthe present disclosure.

In some embodiments, the virtual graphical elements correspond tovirtual effects and are displayed in virtual event views 114.1 to 114.n.Virtual graphical elements may be visual representations of real-worldeffects and the parameters, characteristics, and/or attributes of thevirtual event correspond to the parameters, characteristics, and/orattributes of the real-world effects. Examples of real-world effects arewind flow, scent trails, smoke/fog trails, audio directions (e.g., frombeamforming), and lighting effects, just to name a few examples.Examples of parameters, characteristics, and/or attributes for wind flowmay include wind speed, wind direction, and wind duration. Examples ofparameters, characteristics, and/or attributes scent or smoke/fog trailsmay include scent or smoke intensity, initial direction, and duration.Audio direction relates to beamforming technology which controls thesize, shape, and direction of an acoustic wave in order to direct soundto a particular location. For example, beamforming can allow sound to bedirected to a particular location of a venue so that only certain usershear the sound. Examples of parameters, characteristics, and/orattributes for audio direction may include the target location of theaudio and volume. Examples of parameters, characteristics, and/orattributes for lighting effects may include color, intensity, movementpattern, and target location (to be illuminated).

In some embodiments, the virtual graphical elements provide visualrepresentations of real-world effects that are not typically visible tothe human eye, such as wind, scent, and audio, as discussed above. Forexample, a virtual graphical element for wind may depict the trails ofwind flow (e.g., from a wind machine) and the interaction of the windwith architecture of the venue within the virtual event. As anotherexample, a virtual graphical element for directed audio (e.g.,beamforming) may depict the direction of audio from a source to anintended target and the interaction of the audio with architecture ofthe venue. When parameters, characteristics, and/or attribute of thesereal-world effects are modified (e.g., by any of user devices 106.1through 106.n), event simulation server 102 and/or user devices 106.1through 106.n may update the virtual graphical elements to representthat modification. For example, the updated virtual graphical elementsmay represent a new direction for the wind flow or a new direction ortarget for the directed audio.

In some embodiments, users may modify parameters, characteristics,and/or attributes of virtual effects via an interface provided by userdevices 106.1 to 106.n. For example, a user may modify a parameter,characteristic, and/or attribute of virtual event 112.1 at user device106.1, such as the wind direction of a wind machine. Such a modificationchanges virtual event 112.1 which displays the modification as a visualrepresentation via virtual event view 114.1. For example, virtual eventview 114.1 may display an arrow representing the new wind direction andwind flow within the venue. User device 106.1 may transmit themodification to the user devices 106.2 to 106.n (e.g., via eventsimulation server 102). Upon receiving the modification, user devices106.2 to 106.n may update respective virtual events 112.2 to 112.n basedon the modification. This update includes displaying the arrowrepresenting the new wind direction and wind flow in respective virtualevent views 114.2 to 114.n. Although wind direction is discussed in thisembodiment, similar discussion applies to other virtual effects such asthose discussed above (e.g., scent trails, fog/smoke trails, audiodirections) for displaying virtual graphical effects to representvirtual effects and any resulting modifications to those effects. Inthis manner, virtual events 112.1 to 112.n may simulate the behavior ofreal-world effects within a particular venue and display that simulatedbehavior as virtual graphical elements in virtual event views 114.1 to114.n.

In some embodiments, event simulator server 102 may process the virtualgraphical elements to simulate the real-world effects. For example,event simulator server 102 may receive a modification to the parameters,characteristics, and/or attributes from a user device, simulate theimpact of that modification on the virtual event, generating the virtualgraphical element to correspond to the simulated impact, andtransmitting the virtual graphical element to the other user devices. Insome embodiments, user devices 106.1 to 106.n. receive the modificationfrom event simulator server 102 and simulates the impact of themodification locally.

In some embodiments, processing of the virtual graphical elements mayinclude simulating the interaction between two or more virtual graphicalelements. For example, a user may modify one or more parameters,characteristics, and/or attributes such as both a wind flow and a smokemachine. The virtual event may be updated based on the modifications tothe wind flow and the smoke trail which may include simulating theimpact of the modifications to the wind flow and the smoke trail. Thismay further include updating the virtual graphical elements within thevirtual event view to display the updated simulation such as a linerepresenting a new smoke trail that is impacted by the change in thewind flow.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 , the user devices106.1 through 106.n can provide their modifications to the eventsimulation server 102 to cause the event simulation server 102 toprovide an updated virtual event 112 having these modifications topropagate these modifications throughout the user devices 106.1 through106.n. The propagation of the modifications throughout the user devices106.1 through 106.n allows the real-world users of the user devices106.1 through 106.n to collaboratively modify the virtual event 112 atthe various locations within the three-dimensional space of the virtualevent 112 in real-time, or near-real time. For example, a firstreal-world user of a first user device 106.1 can virtually modify afirst parameter, characteristic, and/or attribute of the virtual event112 while viewing a first virtual event view 114.1 from among thevirtual event views 114.1 through 114.n. In this example, the first userdevice 106.1 provides the modification to the first parameter,characteristic, and/or attribute to the event simulation server 102 tocause the event simulation server 102 to update the virtual event 112 toinclude the modification to the first parameter, characteristic, and/orattribute. In this example, the event simulation server 102 provides theupdated virtual event 112 to the user devices 106.1 through 106.n topropagate the modification throughout the user devices 106.1 through106.n.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 , the event simulationserver 102 and the user devices 106.1 through 106.n functionallycooperate to provide an interactive environment for interacting with thevirtual event 112. In some embodiments, the event simulation server 102can provide multiple real-world users of the user devices 106.1 through106.n with various communication capabilities, for example, audio,video, and/or data communications. In these embodiments, the eventsimulation server 102 can establish one or more communication sessions,for example, audio, video, and/or data communication sessions, betweenthe multiple real-world users of the user devices 106.1 through 106.n toallow these real-world users to communicate among themselves whileinteracting with the virtual event 112 as described above.

In some embodiments, the communications between user devices 106.1through 106.n may be associated with the virtual graphical elementsbeing displayed in corresponding virtual event views 114.1 through114.n. For example, a user at user device 106.1 may interact with avirtual graphical element in virtual event view 114.1. Examples ofinteractions include selection, annotation, or modification a virtualgraphical element. The user may wish to collaborate with another user atuser device 106.2 on the interaction with the virtual graphical element.User device 106.1 may initiate a communication with the user device106.2 which may include modifying the virtual event view 114.2 to seethe virtual graphical element. For example, user device 106.1 may sendan instruction to user device 106.2 to move the location of the virtualuser so that the virtual graphical element is displayed in virtual eventview 114.2 As another example, user device 106.1 may transmit atext-based communication that includes an image of the interaction withthe virtual graphical element to the user device 106.2.

The remote event sources 108 can provide the event to the eventsimulation server 102 via the communication network 110 as describedabove. In some embodiments, the remote event sources 108 can include aremote depository that stores the digital representation of the event,for example, a remote depository that is associated with an owner orowners of the digital representation of the event. In some embodiments,the remote event sources 108 can live-stream the digital representationof the event to the event simulation server 102 via the communicationnetwork 110. For example, the remote event sources 108 can provide thedigital representation of the event, such the one or morecomputer-generated digital representations of the musical event, the oneor more computer-generated digital representations of the theatricalevent, the one or more computer-generated digital representations of thesporting event, and/or the motion picture event to provide someexamples, to the remote event sources 108 as the event is beingpresented at another real-world venue.

The communication network 110 can include a wireless communicationnetwork, a wireline communication network, and/or any combinationthereof that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s)without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure tocommunicatively couple the event simulation server 102, the user devices106.1 through 106.n, and/or the one or more remote event sources 108 toone another. In some embodiments, the wireless communication network canbe compliant with, for example, a version of an Institute of Electricaland Electronics Engineers (I.E.E.E.) 802.11 communication standard, forexample, 802.11a, 802.11b/g/n, 802.11h, and/or 802.1 lac, which arecollectively referred to as Wi-Fi, a version of a Bluetoothcommunication standard, and/or or any other wireless communicationstandard or protocol that will be apparent to those skilled in therelevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent disclosure. In some embodiments, the wireline communicationnetwork can be compliant with, for example, a version of an Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.10 communicationstandard or protocol, also referred as Ethernet, such as 50G Ethernet,100G Ethernet, 200G Ethernet, and/or 400G Ethernet to provide someexamples, and/or or any other wireline communication standard orprotocol that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s)without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Exemplary Operation of the Exemplary Event Simulation System

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary event simulationaccording to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Thedisclosure is not limited to this operational description. Rather, itwill be apparent to ordinary persons skilled in the relevant art(s) thatother operational control flows are within the scope and spirit of thepresent disclosure. The following discussion describes an exemplaryoperational control flow 200 that allows multiple real-world users tocollaboratively interact with a virtual event having a digitalrepresentation of an event that is mapped onto a virtual model of areal-world venue. The operational control flow 200 as to be described infurther detail below can be executed by one or more computer systems,such as the event simulation server 102 and/or the user devices 106.1through 106.n as described above in FIG. 1 .

At operation 202, the operational control flow 200 maps the digitalrepresentation of the event onto the virtual model to generate thevirtual event. The digital representation of the event is substantiallysimilar to the digital representation of the event as described above inFIG. 1 . The virtual model of operation 202 may be an embodiment of thevirtual model as described above in FIG. 1 . In some embodiments, theoperational control flow 200 can retrieve and/or generate the virtualmodel and/or the digital representation of the event, including updatingthe virtual model based on any modifications to parameters,characteristics, and/or attributes associated with the virtual event. Inthese embodiments, the operational control flow 200 can map the digitalrepresentation of the event, including parameters, characteristics,and/or attributes associated with any real-world effects, onto thevirtual model to generate the virtual event in a substantially similarmanner as described above in FIG. 1 .

At operation 204, the operational control flow 200 generates a virtualevent view at a location of the three-dimensional space of the virtualevent from operation 202. The location of the three-dimensional spacemay correspond to a physical location of the venue and therefore thevirtual event view at the location corresponds to the real world view atthe corresponding physical location at the venue. In the exemplaryembodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 , the operational control flow 200 canprocess the virtual event from operation 202 as the virtual event fromoperation 202 is being played back to provide a virtual event view eventat the location in a substantially similar manner as described above inFIG. 1 . In some embodiments, the generated virtual event view may alsobe based on parameters, characteristics, and/or attributes establishedor modified by user devices 106.1 through 106.n. For example, the visualgraphical elements of the generated virtual event view may representsimulated behavior of one or more parameters, characteristics, and/orattributes associated with the virtual event.

At operation 206, the operational control flow 200 can receiveinteractions from user devices 106.1 through 106.n in the form of userinput and represent these interactions in the virtual event view fromoperation 204. The operational control flow 200 can play the virtualevent from operation 202 to virtually simulate the event being presentedat the real-world venue. The operational control flow 200 can receiveuser input from user devices 106.1 through 106.n as the virtual eventview from operation 204 is being viewed (e.g., on a display of userdevices 106.1 through 106.n. In some embodiments, this user input caninclude instructions (e.g., from an input device of user devices 106.1through 106.n) for virtually moving virtual users around thethree-dimensional space of the virtual event from operation 202 to viewthe digital representation of the event at one or more locations of thethree-dimensional space of the virtual event from operation 202. In someembodiments, this interaction can include virtually modifying one ormore parameters, characteristics, and/or attributes of the virtual eventfrom operation 202 as the virtual event view from operation 204 is beingviewed in a substantially similar manner as described above in FIG. 1 .The one or more parameters, characteristics, and/or attributes ofoperation 206 are substantially similar to and represent one embodimentof the one or more parameters, characteristics, and/or attributes asdescribed above in FIG. 1 . In some embodiments, the operational controlflow 200 can update the virtual event from operation 202 to reflect themodification to the one or more parameters, characteristics, and/orattributes of the virtual event from operation 202. For example, theoperational control flow 200 may update one or more virtual graphicalelements of virtual event view to reflect any modifications to one ormore parameters, characteristics, and/or attributes of the virtualevent. In these embodiments, the operational control flow 200 candistribute the updated virtual event throughout an event simulationsystem, such as the event simulation system 100 to provide an example,to propagate the modification from throughout the event simulationsystem, for example, to multiple user-devices of the event simulationsystem to allow these multiple user-devices to collaboratively interactwith the virtual event from operation 202. In some embodiments, insteadof distributing the updated virtual event, the operational control flowmay transmit the one or more modifications to the user devices 106.1through 106.n. Each user device may then locally update the virtualevent based on the received modification(s).

Exemplary Virtual Event that can be Implemented within the ExemplaryEvent Simulation System

FIG. 3 graphically illustrates an exemplary virtual event that can beimplemented within the exemplary event simulation system in accordancewith some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. In theexemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3 , an event simulation server,such as the event simulation server 102 as described above in FIG. 1 toprovide an example, can map a digital representation of an event onto avirtual model of a real-world venue to generate a virtual event 300. Insome embodiments, user devices, such as user devices 106.1 through 106.nas described above in FIG. 1 to provide an example, can play the virtualevent 300 to virtually simulate the event being presented at areal-world venue. While being played, user devices 106.1 through 106.nmay interact with the virtual event 300 such as by providing user inputsto pause the virtual event, move within the virtual model, or providemodifications to one or more parameters, characteristics, and/orattributes. The virtual event 300 can represent an exemplary embodimentof the virtual event 112 as described above in FIG. 1 .

As illustrated in FIG. 3 , real-world users of the user devices canvirtually move virtual users 302.1 through 302.a around thethree-dimensional space of virtual event 300 to view the event atvarious locations. In some embodiments, the virtual users 302.1 through302.a can be depicted in the virtual event 300 using graphical iconsand/or figures, also referred to as graphical avatars. In the exemplaryembodiment illustrated in FIG. 3 , the virtual users 302.1 through 302.aare situated a first location, a second location, and an a^(th) locationof the virtual event 300, respectively. In the exemplary embodimentillustrated in FIG. 3 , the user devices can track the first location,the second location, and the a^(th) location of the virtual users 302.1through 302.a, respectively, in the virtual event 300; estimate lines ofsight 304.1 through 304.a of the virtual users 302.1 through 302.a atthe first location, the second location, and the a^(h) location,respectively; estimate fields of view 306.1 through 306.a of the virtualusers 302.1 through 302.a that are associated with the lines of sight304.1 through 304.a, respectively; and/or matching virtual event views308.1 through 308.a that are to be displayed by the user devices to thefields of view 306.1 through 306.a of the virtual users 302.1 through302.a at the first location, the second location, and the a^(h)location, respectively.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3 , a first real-world user of afirst user device from among the user devices can virtually move avirtual user 302.1 around the three-dimensional space of virtual event300 using the first user device to a first location of the virtual event300. In this example, the first user device can match the virtual eventview 308.1 to the field of view 308.1 of the virtual user 302.1 at thefirst location. As another example, as illustrated in FIG. 3 , a secondreal-world user of a second user device from among the user devices canvirtually move a second user 302.2 around the three-dimensional space ofvirtual event 300 using the second user device to a second location ofthe virtual event 300. In this other example, the second user device canmatch the virtual event view 308.2 to the field of view 308.2 of thevirtual user 302.2 at the second location. As a further example, asillustrated in FIG. 3 , an a^(th) real-world user of an a^(th) userdevice from among the user devices can virtually move an a^(th) user302.a around the three-dimensional space of virtual event 300 using thea^(th) user device to an a^(th) location of the virtual event 300. Inthis further example, the a^(th) user device can match the virtual eventview 308.a to the field of view 308.a of the virtual user 302.a at thea^(th) location. This further example further illustrates that thefields of view 306.1 through 306.a of the virtual users 302.1 through302.a can include other virtual users from among the virtual users 302.1through 302.a. In this situation, the virtual event views 308.1 through308.a can similarly include these other virtual users and/orinteractions of these other virtual users.

Exemplary Virtual Event Views that can be Generated by the ExemplaryEvent Simulation System

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B graphically illustrate exemplary virtual event viewsthat can be generated by the exemplary event simulation system inaccordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.The discussion of FIG. 4A and to FIG. 4B to follow is to describeexemplary virtual event views, such as one or more of the virtual eventviews 308.1 through 308.a as described above in FIG. 3 to provide anexample, that can be generated by an event simulation system, such asthe event simulation system 100 as described above in FIG. 1 . In someembodiments, the virtual event views as to be described in furtherdetail below can be generated by one or more user devices of the eventsimulation system, such as one or more the user devices 106.1 through106.n as described above in FIG. 1 . The virtual event views, asillustrated in FIG. 4A and to FIG. 4B, are for exemplary purposes onlyand not limiting. Those skilled in the relevant art(s) will recognizethat other virtual event views are possible dependent upon the virtualmodel and/or the event to be simulated on the virtual model withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4A graphically illustrates a virtual event view 400 that caninclude a digital representation of an event, denoted as an event 402 inFIG. 4A, that can be mapped onto a virtual model 404 of a real-worldvenue. And FIG. 4B graphically illustrates a virtual event view 420 thatcan include a digital representation of the same event or a differentevent, denoted as an event 422 in FIG. 4B, that can be mapped onto avirtual model 424 of the same or a different real-world venue. In theexemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4A, the event 402 can bevirtually simulated as being presented within the interior of thevirtual model 404. And in the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG.4B, the event 422 can be virtually simulated as being presented on theexterior of the virtual model 424. As illustrated in FIG. 4A and FIG.4B, the virtual event view 400 and the virtual event view 420 can matcha field of view of a virtual user 406.1 from among virtual users 406.1through 406.t at a corresponding location in the three-dimensional spaceof the virtual model 404 and the virtual model 424, respectively.

As illustrated in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, the virtual event view 400 andthe virtual event view 420 include a graphical user interface 408 toallow a real-world user associated with the virtual user 406.1 tointeract with the virtual event view 400 and the virtual event view 420.In some embodiments, these interactions can include virtually moving thevirtual user 406.1 around the three-dimensional space of the virtualevent 112 to view the digital representation of the event at variouslocations in the three-dimensional space of the virtual event 112 and/orvirtually modifying one or more parameters, characteristics, and/orattributes of the event 402, the virtual model 404, the event 422 and/orthe virtual model 424 in a substantially similar manner as describedabove in FIG. 1 . In some embodiments, the graphical user interface 408can include a virtual map 410 to graphically indicate the location ofthe virtual user 406.1 in the three-dimensional space of the virtualmodel 404 and/or the virtual model 424. In the exemplary embodimentsillustrated in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, the graphical user interface 408 canrepresent a hierarchical arrangement of interactions that can beperformed by the real-world user to interact with the virtual event view400 and/or the virtual event view 420. In some embodiments, thegraphical user interface 408 can be overlaid onto the virtual event view400 and/or the virtual event view 420. In these embodiments, thereal-world user can select through the hierarchical arrangement ofinteractions using a virtual selection tool, such as a virtual pointer416.1 from among virtual pointers 416.1 through 416.t that is associatedwith the virtual user 406.1 as illustrated in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B. Inthese embodiments, the virtual pointers 416.1 through 416.t can functionin a substantially similar manner as real-world laser pointers to allowthe virtual users 406.1 through 406.t to interact with the virtual eventview 400 and/or the virtual event view 420.

As illustrated in FIG. 4A, the hierarchical arrangement of interactionsincludes one or more broad fields of interactions, denoted as menus412.1 through 412.r. In some embodiments, the menus 412.1 through 412.rcan include a media menu that relates to the event 402 and/or the event422, a user menu that relates to the virtual users 406.1 through 406.t,an environment menu that relates to the virtual model 404 and/or thevirtual model 424, and a setting menu that relates to the virtual eventview 400 and/or the virtual event view 420 to provide some examples. Insome embodiments, one or more of the menus 412.1 through 412.r can beexpanded to include specific interactions that are associated with thesemenus, such as lists 414.1 through 414.s as illustrated in FIG. 4A, oneor more radio buttons, one or more check boxes, one or more text boxes,one or more toggle switches, one or more pop-up menus, one or more othermenus, and/or any other suitable mechanism that allows the user tointeract with the virtual model 404 and/or the virtual model 424 thatwill be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Exemplary Interactions with the Exemplary Virtual Event Views that canbe Generated by Users of the Exemplary Event Simulation System

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B graphically illustrate exemplary interactions withthe exemplary virtual event views that can be generated by users of theexemplary event simulation system in accordance with some exemplaryembodiments of the present disclosure. As described above, one or morereal-world users can virtually interact with a virtual event as thesereal-world users are viewing a virtual view of the virtual event. Forexample, as to be described in further detail below in FIG. 5A and FIG.5B, the one or more real-world users can modify one or more parameters,characteristics, and/or attributes of the virtual event. In someembodiments, the interactions as to be described in further detail belowcan be generated by the one or more real-world users operating one ormore user devices of the event simulation system, such as one or morethe user devices 106.1 through 106.n as described above in FIG. 1 . Thespecific interactions as to be described in further detail below are forexemplary purposes only and not limiting. Those skilled in the relevantart(s) will recognize that other interactions are possible withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5A graphically illustrates an exemplary interaction with anarchitectural feature of the real-world venue within a virtual eventview 500. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5A, a digitalrepresentation of an event can be mapped onto a virtual model of areal-world venue to generate a virtual event which can be processed asdescribed above in FIG. 1 and/or FIG. 3 to generate the virtual eventview 500. As illustrated in FIG. 5A, the virtual event view 500 includesa computer-generated digital model of an architectural feature of thereal-world venue, denoted as an architectural feature 502 in FIG. 5A. Insome embodiments, the virtual architectural feature 502 can representarchitectural features of the real-world venue that are related to theperformance area, the media surfaces, the seating locations, and/or thestanding locations to provide some examples. As to be described infurther detail below, a real-world user of a user device of an eventsimulation system, such as one or more of the user devices 106.1 through106.n as described above in FIG. 1 to provide an example, can interactwith the virtual event view 500 to modify one or more parameters,characteristics, and/or attributes of the virtual architectural feature502.

As illustrated in FIG. 5A, the real-world user can utilize a virtualpointer 504 to emphasize, for example, select or highlight, the virtualarchitectural feature 502 from the virtual event view 500. In theexemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5A, a computer-generateddigital model of the virtual architectural feature 502 can be stored ina library of architectural features. In some embodiments, the library ofarchitectural features includes the architectural features that can beemphasized by the real-world user for modification. In some embodiments,the real-world user can interact with the virtual event view 500 tomodify one or more parameters, characteristics, and/or attributes of thecomputer-generated digital model of the virtual architectural feature502. These parameters, characteristics, and/or attributes can include alocation, for example, a position and/or an orientation, of the virtualarchitectural feature 502 in the three-dimensional space of the virtualevent and/or physical dimensions of the virtual architectural feature502 in the three-dimensional space of the virtual event to provide someexamples.

After emphasizing the virtual architectural feature 502, the real-worlduser can utilize the virtual pointer 504 to interact with a userinterface 506 to modify the one or more parameters, characteristics,and/or attributes of the computer-generated digital model of the virtualarchitectural feature 502. In some embodiments, the user interface 506can represent an exemplary embodiment of the user interface 408 asdescribed above in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B. In the exemplary embodimentillustrated in FIG. 5A, the real-world user can select through variousmenus, radio buttons, check boxes, text boxes, toggle switches, and/orpop-up menus to modify the one or more parameters, characteristics,and/or attributes of the computer-generated digital model of the virtualarchitectural feature 502. In some embodiments, the real-world user canselect through the various menus, radio buttons, check boxes, textboxes, toggle switches, and/or pop-up menus of the user interface 506 tocause a modification interface 508 to be displayed in conjunction withthe virtual architectural feature 502. As illustrated in FIG. 5A, themodification interface 508 can include virtual axes of a Cartesiancoordinate system to move and/or rotate the virtual architecturalfeature 502 in the three-dimensional space of the virtual event aboutthese virtual axes.

FIG. 5B graphically illustrates an exemplary interaction with a virtualobject within a virtual event view 520. In the exemplary embodimentillustrated in FIG. 5B, a digital representation of an event can bemapped onto a virtual model of a real-world venue to generate a virtualevent which can be processed as described above in FIG. 1 and/or FIG. 3to generate the virtual event view 520. As illustrated in FIG. 5B, thevirtual event view 520 includes a computer-generated digital model of anobject, denoted as a virtual object 522 in FIG. 5B. In some embodiments,the virtual object 522 can represent an object within the event and/orthe real-world venue that is related to a stage object that isassociated with the real-world venue and/or a stage object that isassociated with the event to provide some examples. Other examples ofvirtual object 522 may include the virtual effects noted above, such asvisual representations of wind flow, scent and smoke/fog trails, audiodirections, and lighting effects. Virtual event view 520 may display anynumber of virtual objects including the interactions between thesevirtual objects such as the impact of an architectural feature of thevenue on wind flow or audio directions.

As to be described in further detail below, a real-world user of a userdevice of an event simulation system, such as one or more of the userdevices 106.1 through 106.n as described above in FIG. 1 to provide anexample, can interact with the virtual event view 520 to insert thevirtual object 522 in the three-dimensional space of the virtual event.In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5B, the simulationsystem can store a library of objects that can be inserted into thevirtual event. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 5B, the library ofobjects can include a triangle, a cube, and a donut that can be insertedinto the virtual event. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG.5A, the real-world user can utilize a virtual pointer 524 to interactwith a user interface 526 to insert the virtual object 522 into thethree-dimensional space of the virtual event. In these embodiments, theuser can thereafter modify one or more parameters, characteristics,and/or attributes of the virtual object 522 in a substantially similarmanner as described above in FIG. 5A.

Exemplary Collaboration Among Users of the Exemplary Event SimulationSystem

FIG. 6 graphically illustrates exemplary collaboration among users ofthe exemplary virtual event views in accordance with some exemplaryembodiments of the present disclosure. In the exemplary embodimentillustrated in FIG. 6A, an event simulation system, such as the eventsimulation system 100 as described above in FIG. 1 , can map a digitalrepresentation of an event, denoted as event 602 in FIG. 6 , onto avirtual model 604 of a real-world venue to provide a virtual event in asubstantially similar manner as described above in FIG. 1 . The eventsimulation system can match a virtual event view 600 to a field of viewof a virtual user 606.1 from among virtual users 606.1 through 606.t ata corresponding location in the three-dimensional space of the virtualevent in a substantially similar manner as described above in FIG. 3 .

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6 , the event simulationsystem allows real-world users that are associated with the virtualusers 606.1 through 606.t to collaborate among themselves while viewingthe virtual event at their corresponding locations in thethree-dimensional space of the virtual event. As illustrated in FIG. 6 ,the a first user that is associated with a first virtual user 606.1 fromamong the virtual users 606.1 through 606.t can interact with thevirtual event view 600 to include, for example, insert, a virtual mark608.1 from among virtual marks 608.1 through 608.t into the virtualevent. In some embodiments, the virtual marks 608.1 through 608.t caninclude one or more free form lines, one or more shapes, and/or text toprovide some examples that can be inserted into the virtual event by thereal-world users. In some embodiments, one or more of virtual marks608.1 through 608.t may be dynamically generated to representsimulations of the virtual effects so that a user can view a simulatedbehavior of a real-world effect. For example, event simulation server102 or the user device may generate one or more of virtual marks 608.1through 608.t to represent a simulated wind flow as it traverses avenue. In this example, the one or more virtual marks 608.1 through608.t may be a line displayed in virtual event view 600 with the linerepresenting the wind trail of a wind machine in the venue. The virtualevent view 600 my display the line as curving or flowing around thevenue which is representative of the interaction of the wind trail andany architectural features of the venue (e.g., wall, seats, a surface).The line may therefore a visual representation of a simulated wind trailwithin the venue. Virtual marks 608.1 through 608.t may be implementedas any visual mark within virtual event view 600 to represent thesimulated behavior of a real-world effect or object. In the exemplaryembodiment illustrated in FIG. 6 , the real-world user can utilize avirtual pointer 610.1 from among virtual pointers 610.1 through 610.t tointeract with a user interface 612 to insert the virtual mark 608.1 intothe virtual event. In some embodiments, the user interface 612 canrepresent an exemplary embodiment of the user interface 408 as describedabove in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6 , the virtual eventview 600 can further include other virtual users from among the virtualusers 606.1 through 606.t, other virtual marks from among the virtualmarks 608.1 through 608.t, and/or other virtual pointers from among thevirtual pointers 610.1 through 610 t. In some embodiments, the eventsimulation system can overlay a virtual grid 614 onto the virtual eventto allow the real-world users to easily identify locations in thethree-dimensional space of the virtual event of other interactions byother real-world users. In some embodiments, these other real-worldusers, other virtual marks, and/or other virtual pointers can be withinthe field of view of the virtual user 606.1 at the correspondinglocation in the three-dimensional space of the virtual event. In theseembodiments, this allows the real-world users to view interactions byother real-world users when these interactions are within their fieldsof view of their corresponding virtual users 606.1 through 606.t attheir corresponding locations in the three-dimensional space of thevirtual event. As such, the real-world users can collaborate amongthemselves in real-time, or near-real time, to allow these real-worldusers to collaboratively interact with the virtual event. For example,as illustrated in FIG. 6 , a virtual user 606.2 from among the virtualusers 606.1 through 606.t, a virtual mark 608.2 from among the virtualmarks 608.1 through 608.t, and/or virtual pointers 610.2 and 610.t fromamong the virtual pointers 610.1 through 610.t can be present within thefield of view of the virtual user 606.1 at the corresponding location inthe three-dimensional space of the virtual event. In this example, thevirtual user 606.2, the virtual mark 608.2, and/or the virtual pointers610.2 and 610.t can be viewed by the real-world user as this real-worlduser is viewing the virtual event view 600.

Exemplary Event Simulation Server that can be Implemented within theExemplary Event Simulation System

FIG. 7 graphically illustrates an exemplary event simulation server thatcan be implemented within the exemplary event simulation system inaccordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Inthe exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7 , an event simulationserver 700 can map an event onto a virtual model of a real-world venueto generate a virtual event, such as the virtual events 112.1 through112.n as described above in FIG. 1 . As to be described in furtherdetail below, the event simulation server 700 can update the virtualevent in response to interactions that are received from user devices,such as the user devices 106.1 through 106.n as described above in FIG.1 to provide an example. And the event simulation server 700 can providethe updated virtual event to the user devices to propagate theseinteractions among the user devices. As illustrated in FIG. 7 , theevent simulation server 700 can include an environment simulation server702 communicatively coupled to an experience simulation server 704. Insome embodiments, the event simulation server 102 and/or the experiencesimulation server 704 can include one or more computing devices, such asone or more desktop computers, one or more rackmount computers, one ormore computer hardware servers, and/or any other computing device havingone or more processors that will be recognized by those skilled in therelevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent disclosure to provide some examples. The event simulation server700 can represent an exemplary embodiment of the event simulation server102 as described above in FIG. 1 .

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7 , the environmentsimulation server 702 can map an event onto a virtual model of areal-world venue to generate a virtual event, such as the virtual event112 as described above in FIG. 1 . As illustrated in FIG. 7 , theenvironment simulation server 702 can include and/or execute a venuemodeling module 706, an event modeling module 708, a virtual eventorganization module 710, and/or a virtual event simulation module 712.Herein references to a “module” shall be understood to include at leastone of software, firmware, hardware, such as one or more circuits,microchips, and/or electronic devices to provide some examples, and/orany combination thereof.

The venue modeling module 706 can retrieve and/or generate a virtualmodel of a real-world venue. The virtual model represents acomputer-generated digital model of the real-world venue inthree-dimensional space. In some embodiments, the real-world venue canrepresent a music venue, for example, a music theater, a music club,and/or a concert hall, a sporting venue, for example, an arena, aconvention center, and/or a stadium, and/or any other suitable venuethat will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) withoutdeparting the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In theseembodiments, the virtual model can represent a computer-generateddigital model of the music theater, the sporting venue, and/or the othersuitable venue in the three-dimensional space. In some embodiments, thevirtual model can include one or more computer-generated digital modelsof various architectural features of the real-world venue in thethree-dimensional space, such as the performance area, the mediasurfaces, the seating locations, and/or the standing locations toprovide some examples.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7 , the venue modelingmodule 706 can modify the virtual model in response to interactionsprovided by real-world users. In some embodiments, the real-world userscan modify one or more parameters, characteristics, and/or attributes ofthe virtual model as these real-world users are viewing the virtualevent in a substantially similar manner as described above in FIG. 1 .In these embodiments, the venue modeling module 706 can similarly modifythe virtual model to include these modifications. For example, thereal-world users can modify one or more parameters, characteristics,and/or attributes of various architectural features, such as theperformance area, the media surfaces, the seating locations, and/or thestanding locations to provide some examples, within the virtual event.In this example, the venue modeling module 706 can similarly modify thevirtual model in response to modifications of the one or moreparameters, characteristics, and/or attributes of the variousarchitectural features by the real-world users.

The event modeling module 708 can retrieve and/or generate a digitalrepresentation of an event. In some embodiments, the event can include amusical event, a theatrical event, a sporting event, and/or a motionpicture event to provide some examples. In the exemplary embodimentillustrated in FIG. 7 , the event modeling module 708 can modify thedigital representation of the event in response to interactions providedby real-world users. In some embodiments, the real-world users canmodify one or more parameters, characteristics, and/or attributes of thedigital representation of the event as these real-world users areviewing the virtual event in a substantially similar manner as describedabove in FIG. 1 . In these embodiments, the event modeling module 708can similarly modify the digital representation of the event to includethese modifications. For example, the real-world users can modify one ormore parameters, characteristics, and/or attributes of one or moreperformers and/or one or more theatrical properties, also referred to asprops, that are associated with the event within the virtual event. Inthis example, the event modeling module 708 can similarly modify thedigital representation of the event in response to modifications of theone or more parameters, characteristics, and/or attributes of the one ormore performers and/or one or more props by the real-world users.

The virtual event organization module 710 can retrieve and/or generatevarious virtual effects including those related to the senses of thehuman body, such as sight, smell, touch, taste, and/or hearing toprovide some examples, that are to be included within the virtual event.These various virtual effects can include audio, visual, and/or sensoryeffects that are to be inserted into the virtual events. In someembodiments, these various virtual effects can relate to lightingoptions available in the real-world venue, colors present in thereal-world venue, different materials in the real-world venue, seats inthe real-world venue, screens, exterior surroundings of the real-worldvenue, such as trees, buildings, roads, sky, lighting, and/or suneffects, and/or other real-world viewers in the real-world venue toprovide some examples. In some embodiments, the audio effects caninclude realistic, confirmatory effects; realistic, evocative effects;symbolic, evocative effects; conventionalized effects; impressionisticeffects; and/or music as effects to provide some examples. In someembodiments, the visual effects can include special effects, motioncapture, matte painting, animation, three-dimensional modeling, rigging,rotoscoping, match moving, and/or compositing to provide some examples.In some embodiments, the sensory effects can include various effectsthat are related to the senses that can be experienced by the humanbody, such as temperature, touch, and/or smell to provide some examples.In some embodiments, the virtual event organization module 710 caninsert these virtual effects and/or computer-generated digital models ofvarious electrical, mechanical, and/or electro-mechanical devices intothe virtual event to simulate these virtual effects. For example, thevirtual event organization module 710 can insert computer-generateddigital models of lighting systems; fog machines; smoke machines; windmachines; robots or animatronics; platforms, such as moveable platformsfor performers to provide an example, and/or four-dimensional effectspods into the virtual event. An exemplary four-dimensional effects podis described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/997,511, filed onAug. 19, 2020, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/997,518, filed onAug. 19, 2020, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/150,794, filed onJan. 15, 2021, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

In some embodiments, the real-world users can modify one or moreparameters, characteristics, and/or attributes of insert the sensoryeffects and/or the computer-generated digital models of variouselectrical, mechanical, and/or electro-mechanical devices to simulatethese virtual effects as these real-world users are viewing the virtualevent in a substantially similar manner as described above in FIG. 1 .In these embodiments, the venue modeling module 706 can similarly modifythe sensory effects and/or the computer-generated digital models ofvarious electrical, mechanical, and/or electro-mechanical devices toinclude these modifications. For example, the real-world users canmodify one or more parameters, characteristics, and/or attributes of thecomputer-generated digital models of the various electrical, mechanical,and/or electro-mechanical devices, such as the lighting systems, the fogmachines, the smoke machines, the wind machines, the robots oranimatronics, the platforms, and/or the four-dimensional effects pods toprovide some examples, within the virtual event. In this example, thevenue modeling module 706 can similarly modify the computer-generateddigital models of the various electrical, mechanical, and/orelectro-mechanical devices in response to modifications of the one ormore parameters, characteristics, and/or attributes of thecomputer-generated digital models of the various electrical, mechanical,and/or electro-mechanical devices by the real-world users.

The virtual event simulation module 712 can map the digitalrepresentation of the event from the event modeling module 708 onto thevirtual model from venue modeling module 706 to generate the virtualevent. In some embodiments, the virtual event represents a virtualpresentation of the event at the real-world venue using the virtualmodel. For example, the event can include a musical event, a theatricalevent, a sporting event, and/or a motion picture event to provide someexamples. In this example, the virtual event simulation module 712 canmap the musical event, the theatrical event, the sporting event, and/orthe motion picture onto the virtual model to generate the virtual event.As such, the virtual event represents a virtual presentation of themusical event, the theatrical event, the sporting event, and/or themotion picture at the real-world venue using the virtual model. In someembodiments, the virtual event simulation module 712 can insert thesensory effects from the virtual event organization module 710 and/orthe computer-generated digital models of various electrical, mechanical,and/or electro-mechanical devices into the virtual event to simulatethese virtual effects into the virtual event.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7 , the experiencesimulation server 704 represents a gateway between the environmentsimulation server 702 and the user devices communicatively coupled toexperience simulation server 704 that functionally cooperates with theuser devices to allow multiple users to collaboratively interact withthe virtual event. As illustrated in FIG. 7 , the experience simulationserver 704 can include and/or execute a gateway module 714 and acommunication module 716. The gateway module 714 authenticates and/orauthorizes the real-world users to interact with the virtual event. Insome embodiments, this authentication and/or authorization can be assimple as providing a username and/or a password to provide someexamples, although more complicated authentications and/orauthorizations, such as a biometric verification such as a retinal, afacial, and/or a voice verification to provide some examples, arepossible as will be recognized by those skilled in the relevant art(s)without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.In some embodiments, the gateway module 714 can assign various levels ofpermission, also referred to as priority levels, to the real-world usersof the user devices. In these embodiments, the priority levels can rangefrom a lowest priority level that only allows its assigned users tovirtually move around the virtual event to a highest priority level thatallows its assigned to completely interact with the virtual event asdescribed above. As an example, the experience simulation server 704 canassign the general public to the lowest priority level to allow thegeneral public to view the virtual event at different locations withinthe three-dimensional space of the virtual event. In this example, thisallows the general public to utilize the user devices to view thevirtual event, without being able to modify the virtual event, topreview the event at different locations at the real-world venue, forexample, before purchasing tickets to attend the event at the real-worldvenue.

The communication module 716 and the user devices functionally cooperateto provide an interactive environment for interacting with the virtualevent. In some embodiments, the communication module 716 can providemultiple real-world users of the user devices with various communicationcapabilities, for example, audio, video, and/or data communications. Inthese embodiments, the communication module 716 can establish one ormore communication sessions, for example, audio, video, and/or datacommunication sessions, between the multiple real-world users of theuser devices to allow these real-world users to communicate amongthemselves while interacting with the virtual event as described above.For example, the communication module 716 can establish voice calls,video calls, and/or text messaging among multiple real-world users ofthe user devices to allow these real-world users to communicate amongthemselves while interacting with the virtual event as described above.In some embodiments, the one or more communication sessions can includesynchronous audio and/or video conferencing sessions among the multipleusers to allow these users to communicate among themselves in real-time,or near-real time, while interacting with the virtual event. In theseembodiments, the synchronous audio and/or video conferencing sessionscan be implemented in accordance with an Internet Relay Chat (IRC)conferencing protocol, a Protocol for Synchronous Conferencing (PSYC), aSecure Internet Live Conferencing (SILC) protocol, an ExtensibleMessaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), and/or Session InitiationProtocol for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions(SIMPLE) to provide some examples. In some embodiments, the one or morecommunication sessions can include asynchronous audio and/or videoconferencing sessions among the multiple users to allow these users tocommunicate among themselves with a delay while interacting with thevirtual event. In these embodiments, the asynchronous audio and/or videoconferencing sessions can include electronic bulletin boards, electronicmessages (e-mails), online forums and/or polls, social networking sites,and/or shared calendars to provide some examples.

Exemplary Event User Device that can be Implemented within the ExemplaryEvent Simulation System

FIG. 8A graphically illustrates an exemplary user device that can beimplemented within the exemplary event simulation system in accordancewith some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. In theexemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8 , a user device 800 canplayback a digital representation of an event that is mapped onto avirtual model of a real-world venue to simulate the event beingpresented at a real-world venue. As a real-world user of the user device800 is viewing this virtual event on the user device 800, the real-worlduser can use the user device 800 to virtually interact with the virtualevent, for example, move around the virtual event to view the virtualevent at various locations and/or modify parameters, characteristics,and/or attributes of the virtual event.

In some embodiments, the user device 800 can be implemented as astandalone, or a discrete device, and/or can be incorporated within orcoupled to one or more computing devices, such as one or more desktopcomputers, one or more mobile phones, one or more mobile computingdevices; one or more mobile internet devices, such as tablet computersand/or laptop computers, one or more mobile video game consoles, one ormore mobile wearable electronic devices, such as smartwatches, and/orany other computing device having one or more processors that will berecognized by those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the present disclosure to provide someexamples. In some embodiments, the user device 800 can represent anexemplary embodiment of one or more of the user devices 106.1 through106.n as described above in FIG. 1 . As illustrated in FIG. 8 , the userdevice 800 can include a user simulation module 810, an interactionmodule 812, and a venue manipulator module 814.

The user simulation module 810 can process the virtual event to generatea virtual event view that corresponds to a location of a virtual userthat is associated with the real-world user within the virtual event. Insome embodiments, the user simulation module 810 can process the virtualevent to generate the virtual event view for presentation in a virtualreality (VR) environment. In these embodiments, the virtual event viewdisplayed by user device 800 represents an immersive virtual world ofthe virtual event view. This virtual world effectively immerses thereal-world user within the virtual event giving the impression to thereal-world user that they have entered the virtual event. In someembodiments, as the real-world user moves such as changing locationwithin the virtual event and/or moves a part of his or her body withinthe real-world, for example, moves his or her head up-and-down orside-to-side, the user device 800 may update virtual event view toeffectively immerse the real-world user within the virtual event. Insome embodiments, the user simulation module 810 can process the virtualevent to generate the virtual event view in a substantially similarmanner as described above in FIG. 3 . In these embodiments, thisprocessing can include tracking a three-dimensional position of thevirtual user in the three-dimensional space of the virtual event,estimating a line of sight of the virtual user at the three-dimensionalposition, estimating a field of view of the virtual user that isassociated with the line of sight, and/or matching the virtual eventview 808 to the field of view of the virtual user at thethree-dimensional position.

The interaction module 812 functionally cooperates with an eventsimulation server, such as the event simulation server 102 as describedabove in FIG. 1 , to provide an interactive environment for interactingwith the virtual event. In some embodiments, the interaction module 812can provide the user device 800 with various communication capabilities,for example, audio, video, and/or data communications. In theseembodiments, the interaction module 812 can request one or morecommunication sessions, for example, audio, video, and/or datacommunication sessions, to be established between other user deviceswithin an event simulation system, such as the event simulation system100 bas described above in FIG. 1 , to allow real-world users of theseuser devices to communicate among themselves while interacting with thevirtual event in a substantially similar manner as described above inFIG. 1 . For example, the interaction module 812 can request voicecalls, video calls, and/or text messaging among multiple real-worldusers of the user devices to be established by the event simulationserver to allow these real-world users to communicate among themselveswhile interacting with the virtual event in a substantially similarmanner as described above in FIG. 1 .

The venue manipulator module 814 receive interactions of the real-worlduser with the virtual event. In some embodiments, the venue manipulatormodule 814 can insert, for example, overlay, various virtual graphicalelements onto the virtual event view to allow the real-world user tointeract with the virtual event. In some embodiments, these virtualgraphical elements can outline various interactions, for example,modifications, that are available to the real-world user. In theseembodiments, these virtual graphical elements can include one or moreradio buttons, one or more check boxes, one or more text boxes, one ormore toggle switches, one or more pop-up menus, one or more lists,and/or any other suitable mechanism that allows the real-world user tointeract to provide some examples. In some embodiments, the venuemanipulator module 814 can insert, for example, overlay, a virtualselection tool such as those described above in FIG. 4A through FIG. 6to provide an example, onto the virtual event view to allow thereal-world user to interact with the virtual event. In some embodiments,the interaction module 812 can control the operations of the virtualgraphical elements and/or the virtual selection tool. In theseembodiments, the interaction module 812 can receive various commands,such as “pointing-and-clicking” and/or “dragging and dropping” toprovide some examples.

FIG. 8B graphically illustrates different implementations of user device800 in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the presentdisclosure. For example, user device 800 may be implemented as a userdevices 800A-C, each of which may provide respective virtual event views808A-C. User device 800A may be a mobile computer that includes aphysical keyboard, such as a laptop, user device 800B may be a virtualreality (VR) device that includes viewer 802 and user device 800C may bea mobile device that lacks a physical keyboard, such as a smartphone.The number and types of user devices depicted in FIG. 8B is purelyexemplary. Any number and types of user devices consistent with thisdisclosure may be implemented. Any combination of user devices 800A-Cmay be implemented as part of the collaborative feature of running andmodifying the virtual event.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8B, user devices 800A-Cgenerate virtual event views 808A-C based upon a virtual event, such asthe virtual event 112 to provide an example. Each of user devices800A-800C may be configured to generate and display respective virtualevent views 808A-C, with each virtual event view representing adifferent perspective of the virtual event based on the virtual locationof the virtual user associated with user devices 800A-800C. For example,virtual event view 808A of user device 800A may depict a perspective ofvirtual event from a particular location within the virtual world;similarly, virtual event views 808B-C by user devices 800B-C may depictperspectives of virtual event from other locations within the samevirtual world.

In some embodiments, user devices 800A-C can process the virtual eventby representing interactions with the virtual event view 808, forexample, move around the virtual event to view the virtual event atvarious locations and/or modify parameters, characteristics, and/orattributes of the virtual event. Different interactions may be availablevia a graphical user interface in the virtual event view of the virtualevent based on the type of user device. For example, user device 800Amay include physical interface devices such as a keyboard and mouse.Virtual event view 808A may be customized to include interactions thatare more easily input via such physical interface devices. Examples ofsuch interactions for user device 800A include modifying code segmentsof the virtual event or any modification of parameters, characteristics,and/or attributes that requires text entry. As another example, virtualevent view 808B may be customized to accommodate the VR implementationof user device 800B to include interactions that are specific to usercontroller device 806. As another example, virtual event view 808C maybe customized to accommodate the mobility of user device 800C. Examplesof such interactions for user device 800C include providing augmentedreality (AR) based interactions. For example, user device 800C may bephysically located within a venue in which an event is to take placewhile user device 800A and/or user device 800B may be physically locatedremotely from the venue. Virtual event view 808C may combine a real-timeview of the venue along with the virtual event in an augmented realityformat. For example, virtual graphical elements of virtual event view808C may be displayed as an overlay over real-world elements of thevenue.

User device 800B may present the virtual event view 808B. In someembodiments, the viewer 802 represents a virtual reality (VR) headsetfor presenting the virtual event view 808B in a virtual reality (VR)environment. In these embodiments, the viewer 802 presents an immersivevirtual world of the virtual event view 808B to the real-world users toeffectively immerse the real-world user within the virtual event. Insome embodiments, the viewer 802 can be implemented a standalone device.In some embodiments, viewer 802 can be implemented a tethered devicethat is communicatively coupled to another device, such as user device800A.

The user controller device 806 represents an input device that is usedby the real-world user to interact with the virtual event when usinguser device 800B. In some embodiments, the user controller device 806can include one or more action buttons and/or one or moreomnidirectional control sticks or buttons that can be manipulated by thereal-world user to interact with the virtual event. In some embodiments,the real-world user can use the one or more action buttons and/or theone or more omnidirectional control sticks or buttons to perform variousactions within the virtual world. For example, the real-world user canuse the one or more action buttons and/or the one or moreomnidirectional control sticks to “point-and-click” and/or “drag anddrop” one or more computer-generated digital models of variousarchitectural features of the real-world venue in the three-dimensionalspace, such as the performance area, the media surfaces, the seatinglocations, and/or the standing locations to provide some examples,and/or one or more computer-generated digital models of various objectsat the real-world venue in the three-dimensional space, such as stageobjects that are associated with the real-world venue and/or stageobjects that are associated with the event to provide some examples.

Exemplary Computer System that can be Utilized to Implement ElectronicDevices within the Exemplary Venue

FIG. 9 graphically illustrates a simplified block diagram of a computersystem suitable for use with embodiments described herein according tosome exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The variouselectronic devices, for example, the event_simulation server 102 asdescribed above in FIG. 1 , the environment simulation server 702 and/orthe experience simulation server 704 as described above in FIG. 7 ,and/or the user device 800 as described above in FIG. 8A, can beimplemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof.The discussion of FIG. 9 to follow describes an exemplary computersystem 910 that can be used for these electronic devices.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 9 , the computer system910 typically includes at least one processor 914 which communicateswith a number of peripheral devices via bus subsystem 912. Typically,the at least processor 914 can include, or can be, any of amicroprocessor, graphics processing unit, or digital signal processor,and their electronic processing equivalents, such as an ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit (“ASIC”) or Field Programmable Gate Array(“FPGA”). As used herein, the term “processor” signifies a tangible dataand information processing device that physically transforms data andinformation, typically using a sequence transformation (also referred toas “operations”). Data and information can be physically represented byan electrical, magnetic, optical or acoustical signal that is capable ofbeing stored, accessed, transferred, combined, compared, or otherwisemanipulated by the processor. The term “processor” can signify asingular processor and multi-core systems or multi-processor arrays,including graphic processing units, digital signal processors, digitalprocessors or combinations of these elements. The processor can beelectronic, for example, comprising digital logic circuitry (forexample, binary logic), or analog (for example, an operationalamplifier). The processor may also operate to support performance of therelevant operations in a “cloud computing” environment or as a “softwareas a service” (SaaS). For example, at least some of the operations maybe performed by a group of processors available at a distributed orremote system, these processors accessible via a communications network(e.g., the Internet) and via one or more software interfaces (e.g., anapplication program interface (API).)

The computer system typically includes an operating system, such asMicrosoft's Windows, Sun Microsystems's Solaris, Apple Computer's MacOs,Linux or UNIX. The computer system also typically can include a BasicInput/Output System (BIOS) and processor firmware. The operating system,BIOS and firmware are used by the processor to control subsystems andinterfaces coupled to the processor. Typical processors compatible withthese operating systems include the Pentium and Itanium from Intel, theOpteron and Athlon from Advanced Micro Devices, and the ARM processorfrom ARM Holdings.

As illustrated in FIG. 9 , these peripheral devices may include astorage subsystem 924, comprising a memory subsystem 926 and a filestorage subsystem 928, user interface input devices 922, user interfaceoutput devices 920, and a network interface subsystem 916. The input andoutput devices allow user interaction with computer system 910. In theexemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 9 , the network interfacesubsystem 916 provides an interface to outside networks, including aninterface to a communication network 918, and is coupled via acommunication network 918 to corresponding interface devices in othercomputer systems or machines. The communication network 918 may comprisemany interconnected computer systems, machines and communication links.These communication links may be wired links, optical links, wirelesslinks, or any other devices for communication of information. Thecommunication network 918 can be any suitable computer network, forexample a wide area network such as the Internet, and/or a local areanetwork such as Ethernet. The communication network 918 can be wiredand/or wireless, and the communication network can use encryption anddecryption methods, such as is available with a virtual private network.The communication network uses one or more communications interfaces,which can receive data from, and transmit data to, other systems.Embodiments of communications interfaces typically include an Ethernetcard, a modem (e.g., telephone, satellite, cable, or ISDN),(asynchronous) digital subscriber line (DSL) unit, Firewire interface,USB interface, and the like. One or more communications protocols can beused, such as HTTP, TCP/IP, RTP/RTSP, IPX and/or UDP.

The user interface input devices 922 may include an alphanumerickeyboard, a keypad, pointing devices such as a mouse, trackball,touchpad, stylus, or graphics tablet, a scanner, a touchscreenincorporated into the display, audio input devices such as voicerecognition systems or microphones, eye-gaze recognition, brainwavepattern recognition, and other types of input devices. Such devices canbe connected by wire or wirelessly to a computer system. In general, useof the term “input device” is intended to include all possible types ofdevices and ways to input information into the computer system 910 oronto the communication network 918. The user interface input devices 922typically allow a user to select objects, icons, text and the like thatappear on some types of user interface output devices, for example, adisplay subsystem.

The user interface output devices 920 may include a display subsystem, aprinter, a fax machine, or non-visual displays such as audio outputdevices. The display subsystem may include a cathode ray tube (CRT), aflat-panel device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a projectiondevice, or some other device for creating a visible image such as avirtual reality system. The display subsystem may also providenon-visual display such as via audio output or tactile output (e.g.,vibrations) devices. In general, use of the term “output device” isintended to include all possible types of devices and ways to outputinformation from the computer system 910 to the user or to anothermachine or computer system.

The memory subsystem 926 typically includes a number of memoriesincluding a main random-access memory (“RAM”) 930 (or other volatilestorage device) for storage of instructions and data during programexecution and a read only memory (“ROM”) 932 in which fixed instructionsare stored. The file storage subsystem 928 provides persistent storagefor program and data files, and may include a hard disk drive, a floppydisk drive along with associated removable media, a CD-ROM drive, anoptical drive, a flash memory, or removable media cartridges. Thedatabases and modules implementing the functionality of certainembodiments may be stored by file storage subsystem 928.

The bus subsystem 912 provides a device for letting the variouscomponents and subsystems of the computer system 910 communicate witheach other as intended. Although the bus subsystem 912 is shownschematically as a single bus, alternative embodiments of the bussubsystem may use multiple busses. For example, RAM-based main memorycan communicate directly with file storage systems using Direct MemoryAccess (“DMA”) systems.

CONCLUSION

The Detailed Description referred to accompanying figures to illustrateexemplary embodiments consistent with the disclosure. References in thedisclosure to “an exemplary embodiment” indicates that the exemplaryembodiment described can include a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic, but every exemplary embodiment may not necessarilyinclude the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover,such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same exemplaryembodiment. Further, any feature, structure, or characteristic describedin connection with an exemplary embodiment can be included,independently or in any combination, with features, structures, orcharacteristics of other exemplary embodiments whether or not explicitlydescribed.

The Detailed Description is not meant to limiting. Rather, the scope ofthe disclosure is defined only in accordance with the following claimsand their equivalents. It is to be appreciated that the DetailedDescription section, and not the Abstract section, is intended to beused to interpret the claims. The Abstract section can set forth one ormore, but not all exemplary embodiments, of the disclosure, and thus,are not intended to limit the disclosure and the following claims andtheir equivalents in any way.

The exemplary embodiments described within the disclosure have beenprovided for illustrative purposes and are not intended to be limiting.Other exemplary embodiments are possible, and modifications can be madeto the exemplary embodiments while remaining within the spirit and scopeof the disclosure. The disclosure has been described with the aid offunctional building blocks illustrating the implementation of specifiedfunctions and relationships thereof. The boundaries of these functionalbuilding blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenienceof the description. Alternate boundaries can be defined so long as thespecified functions and relationships thereof are appropriatelyperformed.

Embodiments of the disclosure can be implemented in hardware, firmware,software application, or any combination thereof. Embodiments of thedisclosure can also be implemented as instructions stored on amachine-readable medium, which can be read and executed by one or moreprocessors. A machine-readable medium can include any mechanism forstoring or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine(e.g., a computing circuitry). For example, a machine-readable mediumcan include non-transitory machine-readable mediums such as read onlymemory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media;optical storage media; flash memory devices; and others. As anotherexample, the machine-readable medium can include transitorymachine-readable medium such as electrical, optical, acoustical, orother forms of propagated signals (e.g., carrier waves, infraredsignals, digital signals, etc.). Further, firmware, softwareapplication, routines, instructions can be described herein asperforming certain actions. However, it should be appreciated that suchdescriptions are merely for convenience and that such actions in factresult from computing devices, processors, controllers, or other devicesexecuting the firmware, software application, routines, instructions,etc.

The Detailed Description of the exemplary embodiments fully revealed thegeneral nature of the disclosure that others can, by applying knowledgeof those skilled in relevant art(s), readily modify and/or adapt forvarious applications such exemplary embodiments, without undueexperimentation, without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure. Therefore, such adaptations and modifications are intendedto be within the meaning and plurality of equivalents of the exemplaryembodiments based upon the teaching and guidance presented herein. It isto be understood that the phraseology or terminology herein is for thepurpose of description and not of limitation, such that the terminologyor phraseology of the present specification is to be interpreted bythose skilled in relevant art(s) in light of the teachings herein.

1. A method for multi collaborating among a plurality users for planninga virtual event, the method comprising: mapping, by a first user devicefrom among a plurality of user devices that is associated with a firstuser from among the plurality of users, a digital representation of anevent onto a virtual model of a venue to generate the virtual event;generating, by the first user device based on the mapping, a virtualevent view of the virtual event for display by the first user device;receiving, by the first user device, a first modification to the virtualevent from a second user device from among the plurality of user devicesthat is associated with a second user from among the plurality of users;and updating, by the first user device, the virtual event view toinclude the first modification.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thevirtual event comprises a virtual presentation of the digitalrepresentation of the event at the virtual model to virtually simulatethe event being presented at a physical location of the real worldvenue.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: performing, by thefirst user device, a second modification to the virtual event; andtransmitting, by the first user device, the second modification fordelivery to the second user device. 4-7. (canceled)
 8. A first userdevice for collaborating among a plurality of users for planning avirtual event, the first user device comprising: a memory configured tostore a digital representation of an event and a virtual model of avenue; and a processor configured to execute instructions stored in thememory, the instructions, when executed by the processor, configuringthe processor to: map the digital representation of the event onto thevirtual model to generate the virtual event, generate, based on themapping, a virtual event view of the virtual event for display by thefirst user device, receive a first modification to the virtual eventfrom a second user device that is associated with a second user fromamong the plurality of users, and update the virtual event view toinclude the first modification.
 9. The first user device of claim 8,wherein the virtual event comprises a virtual presentation of thedigital representation of the event at the virtual model to virtuallysimulate the event being presented at a physical location of the realworld venue.
 10. The first user device of claim 8, wherein theinstructions, when executed by the processor, further configure theprocessor to: perform a second modification to the virtual event; andtransmit the second modification for delivery to the second user device.11-20. (canceled)
 21. The method of claim 1, further comprising:storing, by the first user device, a local copy of the virtual event,and wherein the updating comprises updating the local copy of thevirtual event to include the first modification.
 22. The method of claim1, wherein the mapping comprises mapping one or more computer-generatedmodels of one or more performers or one or more theatrical propertiesthat are associated with the event onto the virtual model to generatethe virtual event, wherein the first modification comprises modifyingone or more parameters, characteristics or attributes of the one or morecomputer-generated models, and wherein the updating comprises updatingthe one or more parameters, characteristics or attributes of the one ormore computer-generated models within the virtual event.
 23. The methodof claim 1, wherein the first modification comprises inserting a virtualobject into the virtual event, and wherein the updating comprisesupdating the virtual event to include the virtual object.
 24. The methodof claim 1, wherein the first modification comprises modifying one ormore parameters, characteristics or attributes of a virtual objectwithin the virtual event, and wherein the updating comprises updatingthe one or more parameters, characteristics or attributes of the one ormore computer-generated models of the virtual object within the virtualevent.
 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the virtual object comprisesa computer-generated digital model of an architectural feature of thevenue.
 26. The method of claim 1, further comprising: playing back thevirtual event to provide the virtual event view of the virtual event ata location within the virtual model; and wherein the receivingcomprises: receiving the first modification to the virtual event fromthe second user device as the first user device is playing back thevirtual event.
 27. The first user device of claim 8, wherein theinstructions, when executed by the processor, further configure theprocessor to: store a local copy of the virtual event; and update thelocal copy of the virtual event to include the first modification. 28.The first user device of claim 8, wherein the first modificationcomprises modifying one or more parameters, characteristics orattributes of one or more computer-generated models of one or moreperformers or one or more theatrical properties within the virtualevent, and wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor,configure the processor to: map the one or more computer-generatedmodels onto the virtual model to generate the virtual event; and updatethe one or more parameters, characteristics or attributes of the one ormore computer-generated models within the virtual event.
 29. The firstuser device of claim 8, wherein the first modification comprisesinserting a virtual object into the virtual event, and wherein theinstructions, when executed by the processor, configure the processor toupdate the virtual event to include the virtual object.
 30. The firstuser device of claim 8, wherein the first modification comprisesmodifying one or more parameters, characteristics or attributes of avirtual object within the virtual event, and wherein the instructions,when executed by the processor, configure the processor to update theone or more parameters, characteristics or attributes of the one or morecomputer-generated models of the virtual object within the virtualevent.
 31. The first user device of claim 30, wherein the virtual objectcomprises a computer-generated digital model of an architectural featureof the venue.
 32. The first user device of claim 8, wherein theinstructions, when executed by the processor, further configure theprocessor to: play back the virtual event to provide the virtual eventview of the virtual event at a location within the virtual model; andreceive the first modification to the virtual event from the second userdevice as the first user device is playing back the virtual event. 33.An event simulation server for collaborating among a plurality of usersfor designing a virtual event, the event simulation server devicecomprising: a memory configured to store a digital representation of anevent; and a processor configured to execute instructions stored in thememory, the instructions, when executed by the processor, configuringthe processor to: provide the digital representation of the event to afirst user device that is associated with a first user from among theplurality of users to allow the first user device to map the digitalrepresentation of the event onto a virtual model of a venue to generatethe virtual event, receive a first modification to the virtual eventfrom a second user device that is associated with a second user fromamong the plurality of users, and provide the first modification to thefirst user device to allow the first user device to update the virtualevent view to include the first modification.
 34. The event simulationserver of claim 33, wherein the instructions, when executed by theprocessor, further configure the processor is configured to: receive asecond modification to the virtual event from the first user device, andprovide the second modification to the second user device to allow thesecond user device to update the virtual event view to include thesecond modification.
 35. The event simulation server of claim 33,wherein the first modification comprises modifying one or moreparameters, characteristics or attributes of one or morecomputer-generated models of one or more performers or one or moretheatrical properties within the virtual event.
 36. The event simulationserver of claim 33, wherein the first modification comprises inserting avirtual object into the virtual event.
 37. The event simulation serverof claim 33, wherein the first modification comprises modifying one ormore parameters, characteristics or attributes of a virtual objectwithin the virtual event.
 38. The event simulation server of claim 33,wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, configure theprocessor to provide the first modification to the first user device toallow the first user device as the first user device is playing back thevirtual event.